Arnot Roberts

Duncan Arnot Meyers and Nathan Lee Roberts started Arnot-Roberts in Healdsburg back in 2001 with just one barrel of wine from their basement. Both grew up around vineyards and winemaking families, so the passion for wine and experience with winemaking was in their core. Today they source grapes from cool vineyards across Northern California, like Pinot Noir, Syrah, Chardonnay and more rare varieties like Trousseau.

History
Duncan and Nathan met in third grade in Napa, sharing Cub Scouts and high school. Nathan joined his dad Keith, who ran one of California's few American-owned cooperages, learning to make oak barrels. Duncan worked harvests and cellars at places like Kongsgaard, Caymus, Groth, and Wind Gap.

A cool vintage around 2001 changed their thinking, those high-acid wines stood out against the ripe, heavy style back then. They started small overlooked vineyards, and built slow with no big money behind them.

Now they make wine from vineyards from Mendocino to Santa Barbara, producing single-vineyard bottles without always chasing the highest professional wine reviewers points.

The Vineyards
There is no estate land: they partner with growers with vineyards at Clary Ranch for Syrah in the Petaluma Gap, Fellom Ranch for Cabernet in the Santa Cruz Mountains, Luschinger for Trousseau, and Trout Gulch for Chardonnay. Historic vineyards include vineyards at Coastlands and Que Syrah on Sonoma Coast, Peter Martin Ray in Santa Cruz Mountains, and Montecillo on Sonoma Mountain.

They aim for responsible farming, often dry-farmed old vines or new plantings on tough terrain. Each spot is picked for its uniqueness: windy gaps, high elevations, rocky slopes, that limit yields and produce high quality grapes with character. 

The Terroir
Their vineyards are typical Californian with some extra elements: foggy Sonoma Coast for brightness, Santa Cruz Mountains for mountain structure, Sierra Foothills for granite edge, and Clearlake for its character. Clary Ranch for its cool climate near the ocean and Peter Martin Ray at 2,000 feet to bring minerality and spice from the old soils.

Way of Winemaking

Hands-off in the cellar: local yeasts to start fermentation, whole clusters for reds. Chardonnay starts in stainless then aged on neutral French oak. Syrah gets submerged cap and pump-overs like Gentaz and Juge.

Nathan coopers some barrels himself, using little new wood overall to avoid masking fruit. No fining, minimal sulfur, wines are unfiltered when possible.